Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
pages: 452
released: October 2010
publisher: Philomel
cover love: ♥♥♥♥♥

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she’ll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters’ laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?(from Goodreads)

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 2/4/2011 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET

Review:

I picked this one up because it was getting all this hype and I wanted to see if it would live up to the buzz. It also sounded a lot like Blood & Chocolate, another werewolf novel I really enjoyed.  I was scared that I wouldn’t like it.  It was getting so many stellar reviews and usually when that happens, I end up hating the book. But as I passed over the first few chapters, I couldn’t believe it, I was already hooked.  I realized that what I held in my hands was not the typical, werewolf story.  My eyes kept journeying back across previous passages to really soak up all the writing greatness of Andrea Cremer.  Nightshade seems to have it all: skillfully written, a deep, entangling plot and amazingly wonderful characters.  And Calla’s romance with both Ren and Shay digs underneath your skin and leaves you wanting more and more with every page you turn.  Seriously, I didn’t want this book to end.

And what a beautiful cover! Plus, for added garnish, all the pages have tattered edges and each chapter starts with a different moon phase and weird triangle symbols.

Calla and Ren are the alphas of their separate packs:  Calla of the Nightshades and Ren of the Banes. The wolves in this story are called Guardians.  The Guardians serve as protectors to the Keepers (aka witches & warlocks) and now Calla and Ren will create a union (get married) and mold their two packs into one.  But things get thrown off course when Calla saves a human boy, Shay, from a bear while on patrol in the mountains.  After Shay turns up as a new transfer at the wolves’ high school and begins to grow closer to Calla, he gets thrown into their whole magically wild world and Calla ends up torn between being loyal to her pack and running with her heart.

“I could tell he believed he would never kiss me again.  Part of me wanted to linger, clinging to him, knowing all the ways we were meant for each other, how well we fit.  But another part tugged me away, already running through the forest, chasing after a fate unknown.”

I was starting to give up on this genre but this one brought back my hope.  Andrea Cremer has written a crème de la crème story. She not only has werewolves but witches, succubi, mythology, magic, spells, and ancient folklore. Miss Cremer definitely did her research while writing this and it shows. I loved the sexy, consuming romance in between the love triangle. It may seem like at times Calla is playing both of them, but I thinks it’s her wolf instincts and her loyalty to her family and friends that makes her give into Ren’s allure. But Shay gives her a release from all the stress of having to take on the pack’s expectations of her. She can just be herself. There’s a sense of independence and mystery about him and those are very attractive qualities, aside from being gorgeous, flirty and witty. Yes, if you haven’t already guessed I’m team Shay. 

I can’t say much else without this review getting spoilerish. Nightshade is a truly, fascinating paranormal romance novel, I don’t think anyone who picks this up will be disappointed. I’m really excited about the sequel, Wolfsbane.  I can’t believe I have to wait until July to read it.

5